Fordham University master's degree students create petition for in-person graduation ceremony

Some graduate students are upset that their graduation will be virtual, while others get to graduate in-person on Saturday.

News 12 Staff

May 18, 2021, 9:47 PM

Updated 1,238 days ago

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It's less pomp and more circumstance at Fordham University for some people getting their master's degrees.
Some graduate students are upset that their graduation will be virtual, while others get to graduate in-person on Saturday.
Carmen Ramirez, of Elmsford, got her master's degree in social work at Fordham, and is set to graduate on Saturday.
Ramirez and at least 1,000 of her other fellow graduate students got some upsetting news that there will be no in-person graduation for them.
Fordham announced that graduate students will be sent a link to a pre-recorded virtual graduation.
However, undergraduate students will have an in-person graduation
"Why us? Why are we stuck with the virtual graduation?" asks Ramirez.
News 12 reached out to Fordham University for an on-camera interview.
It sent the following statement: "Fordham was able to schedule in-person ceremonies for our undergraduate schools and gave the deans of our graduate and professional schools the option to hold their ceremonies virtually. The deans made their decisions based upon many health and safety factors like demographics of their student populations, whether they were taking classes online or in-person, and their accessibility to vaccines and testing.
In the course of the past year, the University community has had to make difficult, sometimes unpopular decisions in the name of health and safety."
Graduate students have started a petition online with more than 1,000 signatures to hopefully get Fordham to change its mind.